The present invention relates to a broadcast data receiver system comprising a first and at least a second broadcast data receiver in communication therewith.
Broadcast data receivers (BDR's) are used in television systems to receive digital data broadcast from a broadcaster at a remote location via cable, satellite and/or terrestrial means and process the digital data for display on a display screen or sounding via speakers connected thereto. The number of program channels available via digital television systems is far greater than the number of programs available using analogue systems and, as such, digital television is becoming increasingly popular. As a result, it is becoming common for users to have two or more BDR's in their homes, for use with two or more television display screens. To encourage user's to provide a BDR with each of the televisions in the premises of the home, some broadcasters are providing a free or discounted second BDR to existing customers.
The second BDR is typically a complete receiver unit, similar or identical to the first BDR and capable of receiving data from a broadcaster, processing the data for display, having a smartcard and/or the like. However, a problem facing broadcasters who provide two or more BDR's to a customer is that the two BDR's may be used in different premises, thereby allowing a user to give or sell one of the BDR's to a friend, neighbour or similar. This reduces the broadcaster's revenue due to lost subscriptions and is therefore undesirable.
One method being used by broadcasters to try and overcome this problem is to provide an RS232 data connection (standard external modem) between the two BDR's to ensure that they are being used in conjunction with each other in the same premises. However, a problem with this method is that it requires adapters and additional cabling to be fitted to the BDRs which is expensive and is therefore less likely to persuade a customer to have more than one BDR. In addition, it is not entirely foolproof as an extended connection can be provided between the two BDR's to allow the BDR's to be used in different premises, thereby still resulting in the initial problem faced by the broadcasters.